Neva Romero's name means more than a tragic date in Boulder history, according to filmmaker Nicole Esquibel. Romero wasn't a rabble-rouser or a troublemaker — she was an activist fighting for equal rights and social justice at the University of Colorado.

Yet Romero, along with five fellow Boulder Chicano students, are widely remembered as the victims of Boulder's unsolved 1974 car bombings. They're called Los Seis de Boulder, or the Boulder six.

"Los Seis were a legacy," said Esquibel. "They were committing heroic acts long before the car bombings. All six were working to better people's lives."

Chautauqua's film series runs monthly through April and will screen documentaries from climbing treacherous Himalayan peaks to Colorado pioneering women artists to untold stories of Spock. The remaining films will screen in the Chautauqua Community House, each including a post-screening discussion.

A high school photo of Neva Romero. (Courtesy Photo)

No one has been convicted in Boulder's 1974 car bombings and questions about the deaths have never been answered. The bomb that killed Romero exploded inside an activist's car at Chautauqua Park, also killing CU student Una Jaakola and alumnus Reyes Martinez. Two days later, another car bomb exploded in the Burger King parking lot on 28th street, killing students and alumni Francisco Dougherty, Florencio Granado and Heriberto Teran, and gravely injuring Antonio Alcantar, who survived but lost his leg.

Esquibel, who grew up in Denver, called the film's premiere at Chautauqua "serendipitous," as it's the spot where Romero was killed.

She said she learned about Los Seis de Boulder while researching Chicano poets and stumbling upon Romero's story in the book, "500 Years of Chicana Women's History." Esquibel was drawn to the mystery because of her Mexican-American heritage and the fact that she and Romero were both born in Alamosa.

The project, however, became much more difficult than she anticipated. After diving into the mystery, she said she encountered various difficulties finding documented information about the incident.

The bombings came at the tail end of the FBI's highly criticized COINTELPRO (Counterintelligence Program) covert operation that used surveillance and infiltration to target civil rights organizations, among others. Esquibel said when she set out in search of FBI files, she learned they were "destroyed in the Kansas City office in a fire."

"These students were big activists," said Esquibel, a professor and dean at Avila University. "If the government wanted to kill a handful of activists, these six were worth eliminating to them."

Her original intentions were to solve the mystery, but it created far more questions, she said. Esquibel was floored by how Colorado history was recorded — or rather, wasn't recorded.

"There are so many blank spots in the pages of history," she said. "Everybody knows about Alfred Packer; he was a white guy. But we have certain markers in history where Mexican-Americans have been excluded and minimized. With this film, I want to shed some light ... to a part of history that people didn't know existed."

Esquibel said Los Seis attended CU as part of a federal equal opportunity program. All six were involved in the United Mexican American Students (UMAS) organization and worked to improve conditions on campus for students of color.

"I want today's younger Mexican-Americans to see that there were activists that fought for their rights," she said. "With all the turmoil surrounding DACA, the Dreamers and the first-generation students going to college now, I want them to know that a similar fight was taking place 40 years ago."

The film runs 55 minutes and was primarily filmed in Boulder, with footage at Chautauqua, the CU campus and the Boulder History Museum on the Hill. This is Esquibel's documentary debut and, as a one-person crew, she said the process has taken six years. She said she had built a relationship with Romero's sister, Clara Romero, of Ignacio, and was set to interview her when Romero abruptly canceled. Esquibel said Romero's family has never really talked about the incident on the record.

"I don't have an answer, but do I have a theory?" she asked. "I could see the FBI participating in these events. It wasn't unheard of in those times. I honestly believe that the FBI and COINTELPRO could potentially see great benefit for eliminating UMAS and these activists. But in the film, I leave that up to the audience to draw their own conclusions."

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